Tag: Jonathon Oxlade

I really wanted to love School Dance. Everything I had heard about it was positive, and it is set in the 80s – which I think was an awesome time.

Sadly I didn’t love it, but I certainly didn’t hate it either. All the ingredients were there, but I felt like this production has just in the oven for too long.

It’s the night of the school dance and we follow the amusing adventures of three awkward high school friends as they try to break through the barrier of social acceptance at their school. Everything about School Dance screams 80s – in a good way.

The costuming and make-up are authentic, including the acid-wash jeans, the big hair and the t-shirt that has a suit print on it. The high school auditorium set design by Jonathon Oxlade helped in setting up the time and environment, and the lighting design by Richard Vabre is exceptional and feels like it has its own character on stage.

Then we have the music – one of the best eras of music in my humble opinion. The performance is liberally littered with snippets of classic songs that were the epitome of those times – think I Need a Hero by Bonnie Tyler, and the like. The accompanying crazy dance moves and choreography are taken straight out of those neon-lit clubs from the 80s.

The three actors – Oxlade, Luke Smiles and writer Matthew Whittet – were flawless. Clearly they have been performing this show for quite some time as their comic physicality was impressive and the presence of their characters was felt throughout. Their interactions and energy levels was the main reason that School Dance endeared itself to so many.

There were a few dark elements that felt out of place in School Dance, particularly as it is currently playing as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The premise of the show was so happy and comedic that the unexpected allusions to domestic violence, for example, went completely against that. There was no elaboration or ending to this sinister storyline which makes me wonder why it was included. Moreover a tighter script would have helped tremendously too as there seemed to be a few scenes that were there just for laughs and not to develop the story.

Upon discussion with a few others that had seen it, I found there were strongly polarised opinions about this show. There were people who loved it and wanted to see it again and people who wanted to leave halfway through. I enjoyed the nostalgia and it definitely took me on a journey I was not expecting, but for me, the narrative of School Dance still needed some work to really make this a slick production.

A theatre experience that is innovative, intriguing and highly engaging

By Christine Moffat

“Side by side in a leafy suburb, Thom lives in one flat, Alethea in another. It’s pretty clear that their respective unsatisfying lives would improve enormously if they just met each other. But with literally a wall between them, this seems highly improbable.”

This is the scant information ‘about the play’ that the programme divulges; a tantalising three sentences that give you no idea of the dynamic and entertaining 90 minutes you are about to embark on.

Boy Girl Wall is a story about life and love, not just those of the two protagonists, but also of the people, and especially the seemingly inanimate objects, around them.

It is not a story I can set out in this review without removing the magic of discovery as you watch the story unfold. Suffice then to say, this show is an unorthodox, amusing, entertaining ‘trampoline-like’ experience.

Upon entering the theatre and being seated, you are presented with a set by Jonathon Oxlade that resembles a giant fold-up ping-pong table. A woman sits to one side of the stage waiting. This turns out to be Neridah Waters, musical designer and musician and understated partner-in-crime to Lucas Stibbard, the hilarious one-man-band-of-a-performer who delivers Boy Girl Wall.

The implied ping-pong effect is not diminished once the show is underway. Stibbard appears to be made of energy, delivering an hour and a half of entertaining, intelligent, rapid-fire dialogue (and at least 25 personalities!) and story-telling in a way that makes you feel that the time flew by.

This show is a perfect example of minimalism at its best, where less truly is more. The production has not much more than a cast of one, a musician, that table-tennis like set (much of which is ‘dressed’ in real time with a stick of chalk), a xylophone and a ruler.

The lighting design by Keith Clark apparently consisted simply of two large retro light globes and an old school overhead projector: all of which are used to great effect for comedy but also, surprisingly for lovely moments of pathos as well.

The ingredients for Boy Girl Wall may not sound like much of a theatrical shopping list, but with these few items this production delivers an evening of surprise, laughter, love and an unexpected dash of optimism for good measure.